Nathan Beford Forrest High: Time For a Name Change

[sheclown]

It is so nice to make the Washington Post:  (wince)

School named after KKK leader asked to change its name

By Valerie Strauss, Published: September 12 at 1:32 pmE-mail the writer
Nathan Bedford Forrest (nps.gov)


(Update: new details)

In the you-can't-make-up-this-stuff category: A petition on change.org with some 75,000 signatures is asking a Florida school district to change the name of a high school that is named after Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate  general and the first  "grand wizard" of the Ku Klux Klan.

And, according to Marsha Oliver, chief of communications for the Duval County School District, it doesn't matter how many people sign the petition because the process for changing a school's name is community-based and the ultimate decision resides with the school board.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/09/12/school-named-after-kkk-leader-asked-to-change-its-name/

[sheclown]

Renaming Confederate parks creates stir in Tenn. city
AP 12:34 p.m. EST February 7, 2013
Nathan Bedford Forrest

(Photo: Adrian Sainz, AP)
Story Highlights

    Council also voted to rename Confederate Park as Memphis Park
    Other cities in USA have wrestled with naming parks after Forrest
    Memphis debate sparked emotional discussion on Forrest's actions

SHARE 224 CONNECT 40 TWEET 24 COMMENTEMAILMORE

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The statue of Confederate fighter Nathan Bedford Forrest astride a horse towers above the Memphis park bearing his name. It's a larger-than-life tribute to the warrior still admired by many for fiercely defending the South in the Civil War — and scorned by others for a slave-trading past and ties to the Ku Klux Klan.

Though the bloodiest war on American soil was fought 150 years ago, racially tinged discord flared before its City Council voted this week to strip Forrest's name from the downtown park and call it Health Sciences Park. It also voted to rename Confederate Park as Memphis Park and Jefferson Davis Park as Mississippi River Park.

A committee has been formed to help the council decide on permanent names for the parks.

The changes have drawn praise from those who said bygone reminders of the Confederacy had to be swept away in what today is a racially diverse city. Critics cried foul, saying moves to blot out such associations were tantamount to rewriting the history of a Mississippi River city steeped in Old South heritage.

The struggle over Forrest's legacy and moves to rename other parks highlights a broader national debate over what Confederate figures represent in the 21st century as a far more diverse nation takes new stock of the war on its 150th anniversary with the hindsight of the civil rights era.

Although the Forrest name change had been expected, a simultaneous move by the City Council to rename Confederate Park and Jefferson Davis Park was not. It arose quickly after council members learned of pending state legislation aimed at preventing the renaming any parks honoring wars or historical military figures.

Kennith Van Buren, a local African-American civil rights activist, said stripping away park names tied to the Confederacy or its leading figures were overdue.

"It's very offensive," he said. "How can we have unity in the nation when we have one city, right here in Memphis, which fails to be unified?"

Most of the emotion over the council's action has centered on Forrest. His defenders, mostly white, cite Forrest's accomplishments as an alderman, businessman and military leader. Critics, black and white, say honoring Forrest glorifies a slave trader and Ku Klux Klan member.

Katherine Blaylock, a Memphis resident who opposes the name changes, defended Forrest and accused the council of trying to rewrite history.

"Memphis has always been a racially divided city," Blaylock, 43, said after Tuesday's meeting. "It's been a big clash since way back when. We do what we can to come together and be a community, but the antagonists that keep bringing it out on both sides are the bad apples."

Forrest lived in Memphis before the Civil War, working as a cotton farmer and slave trader. Though lacking traditional military training, he rose to lieutenant general in the Confederate Army. He became legendary for fast horseback raids that disrupted the enemy's supply lines and communications.

Forrest also led the siege against Union-held Fort Pillow in 1864. With the clear advantage, Forrest ordered Union Maj. William Bradford and his troops to surrender. Forrest's men then stormed the fort and killed about 300 soldiers, half of them black. They also took black and white prisoners.

Questions linger whether the Union soldiers at Fort Pillow were killed as they tried to surrender. Northern newspaper reports referred to the battle as an atrocity, but some historians say the deaths were a consequence of battle.

Forrest later became a member of the Klan, which intimidated and threatened Southern blacks. His level of involvement in the Klan is a source of argument, and he is believed to have helped disband the first incarnation of the Klan in 1869.

Supporters praise him for offering to free 45 of his own slaves if they would serve in the Confederacy. They also claim Forrest was reluctant to divide families when he bought slaves.

Forrest died in 1877 and his body was moved to Forrest Park in the early 1900s. The tree-lined park about as large as a city block is just miles from the old Lorraine Hotel, the site of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination in 1968.

King's murder is a cloud that lingers over Memphis long after the civil rights leader was slain. Race remains an undercurrent in many aspects of daily life. Not until last year did the city name its first street for King.

This is not the first time Forrest Park has sparked acrid debate. Memphis officials, led by the city's black mayor, rejected an effort to rename it in 2005. Other cities in the U.S. have also wrestled with the issue of naming parks and buildings after Forrest.

In 2008, a majority white school board in Jacksonville, Fla., rejected an attempt to rename Nathan Bedford Forrest High School.

Last September, the City Council in Selma, Ala. voted to stop work on a monument honoring Forrest at a city cemetery after someone removed Forrest's bust from the site. The apparent theft had led to protests by civil rights advocates not to replace it.

And, in December, Dixie State College in Utah removed a bronze statue of Confederate soldiers from campus.

Tennessee also has a state park named for Forrest and a modern-day statue of him in Nashville erected on private land.

Civil War historian Harold Holzer said that while he thinks Forrest was an "evil character," history is not served by removing references to the past in public places.

However, moving forward, more cities are likely to follow Memphis' lead, Holzer said.

"Playing with names and titles and statues in a way to pretend that memory doesn't exist in a different plane for different people and different generations is a mistake," said Holzer, a Roger Hertog fellow at the New-York Historical Society. "It actually takes away from history."

The most recent move to rename the Memphis park began in January.

Councilman Myron Lowery proposed renaming Forrest Park after Ida B. Wells, a black journalist who exposed the horrors of lynching and fought for civil rights for African-Americans and women.

At a park committee meeting last month, Councilwoman Janis Fullilove left in tears after another council member, Bill Boyd, defended Forrest as a benefactor and promoter of black people after the Civil War.

Fullilove, who is black, denounced Boyd's comments as lies. Boyd, who is white, has proposed keeping Forrest's name on the park and renaming a separate city park after Wells.

Historians at Tuesday's meeting of the park commission meeting highlighted the ambiguity of Forrest's legacy.

Rhodes College historian Charles McKinney said Forrest represents subjugation and division. But historian and Sons of Confederate Veterans member Lee Millar said slave trading was a part of doing business in the South in Forrest's day.

"Forrest was known as a very humane slave trader," said Millar, who is white. "He never split families. He allowed his slaves for sale to seek their own master."

A committee including historians, council members and an NAACP representative will discuss what to permanently name the parks. Some black and white council members hope the process helps bring people together.

Others say the city needs to discuss more pressing matters such as crime and education.

"I don't care if it's named for Nathan Bedford Forrest," said Councilman Harold Collins, who is black. "He's a dead man."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/02/07/confederate-park-names/1898859/

[sheclown]

As several have stated here, this subject has never been mentioned to me when traveling.  I googled your seach term and found several references to a recent incident at a North Dakota high school, and only one reference to Jacksonville on the Daily Kos.  There was much less discussion than what is found in this thread. 

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=kkk+high+school&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

Florida school named after KKK leader won't change name despite petition, longstanding protests
Nathan Bedford Forrest High School in Jacksonville, Fla., is the target of petition to change its name. But the school board won't remove the KKK grand wizard's name despite 75,000 signatures and years of controversy.
Comments (33)
By Deborah Hastings / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Friday, September 13, 2013, 2:09 PM

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/thousands-florida-school-drop-kkk-leader-article-1.1455200#ixzz2fHvdhnSn

[sheclown]

Petition Challenges School Named After KKK Leader
By Associated Press Sept. 25, 20131 Comment   
   
Follow @TIME

(JACKSONVILLE, Fla.) — A petition to change the name of a mostly black Jacksonville, Fla., high school named after an early Ku Klux Klan leader has gathered nearly 90,000 signatures.

Omotayo Richmond's petition on Change.org asks Duval Public Schools Superintendent Nikolai Vitti to change the name of Nathan B. Forrest High School.

Richmond says it's troubling that a school where more than half the students are black is named "for someone who would have kept their ancestors enslaved."

Forrest was a plantation owner and slave trader. Some accounts accuse him of ordering black prisoners to be massacred after a Confederate army victory. The newly formed Klan elected Forrest as its honorary Grand Wizard in 1867, though he denied involvement.

A district spokeswoman says the policy for changing school names does not include online petitions.

Read more: http://nation.time.com/2013/09/25/petition-challenges-school-named-after-kkk-leader/#ixzz2fxtU8KzQ

awesome jacksonville

[Cheshire Cat]

Petition Challenges School Named After KKK Leader
By Associated Press Sept. 25, 20131 Comment   
   
Follow @TIME

(JACKSONVILLE, Fla.) — A petition to change the name of a mostly black Jacksonville, Fla., high school named after an early Ku Klux Klan leader has gathered nearly 90,000 signatures.

Omotayo Richmond's petition on Change.org asks Duval Public Schools Superintendent Nikolai Vitti to change the name of Nathan B. Forrest High School.

Richmond says it's troubling that a school where more than half the students are black is named "for someone who would have kept their ancestors enslaved."

Forrest was a plantation owner and slave trader. Some accounts accuse him of ordering black prisoners to be massacred after a Confederate army victory. The newly formed Klan elected Forrest as its honorary Grand Wizard in 1867, though he denied involvement.

A district spokeswoman says the policy for changing school names does not include online petitions.

Read more: http://nation.time.com/2013/09/25/petition-challenges-school-named-after-kkk-leader/#ixzz2fxtU8KzQ

awesome jacksonville

That may not be the policy that will be used as the criterion for change but it can sure be a driving factor.  Vitti has already said he is open to considering the change and that in order to address the issue, it needs to be taken up by a member of the School Board.  Perhaps that is where someone needs to lobby a board member to take this issue to Vitti.

[I-10east]

^^^Not a bit surprised. From the Sept 5 TU article.

School Board member Connie Hall, whose district includes Forrest High, said she's noticed Richmond's petition. She noted that thousands of signatures don't automatically translate to a name change.

"People can start petitions all they want, they have their right to do that," Hall said "But we have policies in place to deal with that [officially changing the school's name]. We'll just have to see how his process turns out."

[Cheshire Cat]

Sounds like Miss Connie is a bit condescending to the desires of the community via a petition.  IMO  Perhaps she would take them more seriously if one were being circulated demanded her removal from the School Board.  lol

[Cheshire Cat]

Interesting read from TU Mark Woods

http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/401820/mark-woods/2013-09-28/mark-woods-54-years-and-counting-jacksonvilles-longest

Yes, the recent meeting about Jacksonville's budget dragged on for parts of two days. That's nothing compared to a debate about what to call one of our schools.

It started in 1959 and continues 54 years later.

In the wake of an online petition and a new wave of local and national news, Duval County School Board member Jason Fischer plans to host two town hall meetings and have Jacksonville citizens continue something that started on Sept. 17, 1959.

It's fascinating to go back and read the newspaper stories about the meeting that led to Nathan Bedford Forrest High School.

I've often heard that the school's name was chosen as a defiant rebuke to Brown v. Board of Education, a way for the white establishment to stick it to the 1954 Supreme Court ruling and proponents of integration by naming a new school after a Confederate general who became grand wizard of the KKK.

When I went to the microfilm of the Times-Union and Jacksonville Journal, I fully expected to see editorials advocating for Forrest as the name, followed by news stories describing a meeting where it was the overwhelming choice. And when I went to microfilm of the Florida Star, the local African-American paper that began publishing in 1951, I expected to read editorials and stories condemning the naming of a school after a KKK leader.

Here's what I found instead. A surprising lack of stories. Not a single reference to the KKK. And a description of a meeting where Forrest wasn't the first choice of students, parents, staff or neighbors.

The day of the meeting, the Jacksonville Journal took a stand with a headline titled: Wesconnett, a Name to Be Preserved.

"The school has the lackluster designation as New School 207, which obviously won't do," it said.

The students already had held a meeting and voted to call the school Valhalla, a hall in Viking mythology. They chose this because the previous spring, when the football team began practicing, the players picked a nickname. The Vikings. So, the students said in their vote, they wanted to be the Valhalla Vikings.

"While Valhalla is a colorful name ... it's not satisfactory, either," the editorial said. "There's a lot more justification for naming it Wesconnett."

The school was located in the Wesconnett neighborhood and already was being referred to as Wesconnett High School by residents. According to local legend, the editorial explained, that name represents a combination of the names Jim West, Isaac Silcox and Lawrence Turknett, all early settlers of the area.

"It seems fitting to preserve this in the name of the school," the editorial concluded. "Maybe it'll encourage the students and the new residents of the area to be more history conscious."

When you read the five-paragraph editorial 54 years later, something jumps out at you even more than what's in it is. What isn't. Mention of Forrest.

The Times-Union story that was published after the meeting describes a "stormy and lengthy session which saw three factions battling for their name choices."

There was the Valhalla faction, led by the students and supported by the coaches who already had Viking athletic equipment.

There was the Wesconnett faction, led by the school's "Dads Club." The group had taken a vote at its last meeting and 28 members had voted for Wesconnett, 10 for Viking explorer Leif Ericson, seven for Valhalla and one for Forrest.

The third faction was led by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. The story says that Mrs. John E. Walker — at the time, the paper referred to married women only by their husband's name — suggested and pushed for Forrest.

Sort of.

Mrs. Walker said the UDC was "not promoting any one particular name, but merely desired the name of a distinguished Southern leader."

When they finally got around to voting, one board member moved to name the school Valhalla. When none of the other members seconded the motion, he then moved to name it Forrest.

That was seconded and a vote of the four members (one was absent) produced a 2-2 tie.

Other suggestions didn't go anywhere. Some who spoke at the meeting argued against Wesconnett, saying that at one time the area had a "bad reputation" and putting the name on a school would saddle it with negative connotations.

When Superintendent Ish Brant was asked for his recommendation, he suggested that the school be named either Duval or Southwest. But, he said, "no matter what name the school is given, it will survive and become great."

Board chairman Raymond A. David chastised those in the room for spending so much time fighting over the name of the new school. Another vote was taken on Forrest. And this time it was 4-0.

"From now on, the Vikings of Duval County will represent Forrest High," the Times-Union story ends — as if that were indeed the end of the story.

Granted, the Times-Union and Journal often skewed or ignored stories related to race. But the Florida Star, while full of coverage of volatile local issues in the fall of 1959, including an NAACP campaign to picket Sears over hiring discrimination, didn't have any news about the naming of School 207.

Whatever the backstory behind what did and didn't appear in print, this much is clear: The bigger headlines, near and far, came later — after School 207 had its name changed.

In the 1960s, it became J.E.B. Stuart Junior High. A new building on Firestone Road was named Forrest High School.

And as that school was integrated, there were conflicts and controversies that sparked headlines. Only they weren't over the school's old name.

They were over its new nickname.

The Vikings became the Rebels, with pep rallies featuring the waving of Confederate flags and the playing of "Dixie."

Much has changed through the years, but the name remains.

And a discussion that began with a "stormy and lengthy session" in 1959 will continue next month with town hall meetings

[If_I_Loved_you]

The name shouldn't be changed this is a Non Issue! If I was a different race I would walk my school hallways proud that the name of my school was "Nathan Beford Forrest High" knowing that the Old Southern ways lost out.

[sheclown]

Well, more than 111,000 people would disagree, IF_

the online petition is gaining even more momentum.

[If_I_Loved_you]

Well, more than 111,000 people would disagree, IF_

the online petition is gaining even more momentum.

I would feel a little different if these 111,000 all came from Duval County?

[BridgeTroll]

Interesting read from TU Mark Woods

http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/401820/mark-woods/2013-09-28/mark-woods-54-years-and-counting-jacksonvilles-longest

Yes, the recent meeting about Jacksonville's budget dragged on for parts of two days. That's nothing compared to a debate about what to call one of our schools.

It started in 1959 and continues 54 years later.

In the wake of an online petition and a new wave of local and national news, Duval County School Board member Jason Fischer plans to host two town hall meetings and have Jacksonville citizens continue something that started on Sept. 17, 1959.

It's fascinating to go back and read the newspaper stories about the meeting that led to Nathan Bedford Forrest High School.

I've often heard that the school's name was chosen as a defiant rebuke to Brown v. Board of Education, a way for the white establishment to stick it to the 1954 Supreme Court ruling and proponents of integration by naming a new school after a Confederate general who became grand wizard of the KKK.

When I went to the microfilm of the Times-Union and Jacksonville Journal, I fully expected to see editorials advocating for Forrest as the name, followed by news stories describing a meeting where it was the overwhelming choice. And when I went to microfilm of the Florida Star, the local African-American paper that began publishing in 1951, I expected to read editorials and stories condemning the naming of a school after a KKK leader.

Here's what I found instead. A surprising lack of stories. Not a single reference to the KKK. And a description of a meeting where Forrest wasn't the first choice of students, parents, staff or neighbors.

The day of the meeting, the Jacksonville Journal took a stand with a headline titled: Wesconnett, a Name to Be Preserved.

"The school has the lackluster designation as New School 207, which obviously won't do," it said.

The students already had held a meeting and voted to call the school Valhalla, a hall in Viking mythology. They chose this because the previous spring, when the football team began practicing, the players picked a nickname. The Vikings. So, the students said in their vote, they wanted to be the Valhalla Vikings.

"While Valhalla is a colorful name ... it's not satisfactory, either," the editorial said. "There's a lot more justification for naming it Wesconnett."

The school was located in the Wesconnett neighborhood and already was being referred to as Wesconnett High School by residents. According to local legend, the editorial explained, that name represents a combination of the names Jim West, Isaac Silcox and Lawrence Turknett, all early settlers of the area.

"It seems fitting to preserve this in the name of the school," the editorial concluded. "Maybe it'll encourage the students and the new residents of the area to be more history conscious."

When you read the five-paragraph editorial 54 years later, something jumps out at you even more than what's in it is. What isn't. Mention of Forrest.

The Times-Union story that was published after the meeting describes a "stormy and lengthy session which saw three factions battling for their name choices."

There was the Valhalla faction, led by the students and supported by the coaches who already had Viking athletic equipment.

There was the Wesconnett faction, led by the school's "Dads Club." The group had taken a vote at its last meeting and 28 members had voted for Wesconnett, 10 for Viking explorer Leif Ericson, seven for Valhalla and one for Forrest.

The third faction was led by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. The story says that Mrs. John E. Walker — at the time, the paper referred to married women only by their husband's name — suggested and pushed for Forrest.

Sort of.

Mrs. Walker said the UDC was "not promoting any one particular name, but merely desired the name of a distinguished Southern leader."

When they finally got around to voting, one board member moved to name the school Valhalla. When none of the other members seconded the motion, he then moved to name it Forrest.

That was seconded and a vote of the four members (one was absent) produced a 2-2 tie.

Other suggestions didn't go anywhere. Some who spoke at the meeting argued against Wesconnett, saying that at one time the area had a "bad reputation" and putting the name on a school would saddle it with negative connotations.

When Superintendent Ish Brant was asked for his recommendation, he suggested that the school be named either Duval or Southwest. But, he said, "no matter what name the school is given, it will survive and become great."

Board chairman Raymond A. David chastised those in the room for spending so much time fighting over the name of the new school. Another vote was taken on Forrest. And this time it was 4-0.

"From now on, the Vikings of Duval County will represent Forrest High," the Times-Union story ends — as if that were indeed the end of the story.

Granted, the Times-Union and Journal often skewed or ignored stories related to race. But the Florida Star, while full of coverage of volatile local issues in the fall of 1959, including an NAACP campaign to picket Sears over hiring discrimination, didn't have any news about the naming of School 207.

Whatever the backstory behind what did and didn't appear in print, this much is clear: The bigger headlines, near and far, came later — after School 207 had its name changed.

In the 1960s, it became J.E.B. Stuart Junior High. A new building on Firestone Road was named Forrest High School.

And as that school was integrated, there were conflicts and controversies that sparked headlines. Only they weren't over the school's old name.

They were over its new nickname.

The Vikings became the Rebels, with pep rallies featuring the waving of Confederate flags and the playing of "Dixie."

Much has changed through the years, but the name remains.

And a discussion that began with a "stormy and lengthy session" in 1959 will continue next month with town hall meetings

Very interesting find CC...

[sheclown]

Well, more than 111,000 people would disagree, IF_

the online petition is gaining even more momentum.

I would feel a little different if these 111,000 all came from Duval County?

Yes. It would be less embarrassing

[If_I_Loved_you]

Well, more than 111,000 people would disagree, IF_

the online petition is gaining even more momentum.

I would feel a little different if these 111,000 all came from Duval County?

Yes. It would be less embarrassing

Whats next George Washington owned Slaves. Do we remove him from the Dollar bill and Quarter?

[sheclown]

Did he start a group that promoted lynching them?